Chapter Four

She packed away her ink and books, before heading down to the Great Hall. She intoned the spell that would allow for her to see her son's magical matches before she went and stared in horrified shock at Draco Malfoy, who was filled with a golden light that clearly showed he was a match for her son. Hermione blazed just as brightly, she was pleased to discover, as did Neville Longbottom, Theodore Nott and a girl at the Ravenclaw table. There were other students who were golden silver, rather than the pure and deeper gold created by stronger magical alignment. It wasn't the fact that Harry was attuned to Draco, which alarmed her, it was the fact that their magic and the other children's power were indistinguishable from one another. Wizards drew on the magical cores of their magical matches instinctually until they learned not to do so, but she had no idea of where one child's magic started and another's ended. She herself had had talents as a young girl that she had learned to focus in time and through her studies, she had determined what power belonged to her and what was other's magical energies. She attempted to draw on the power of those other magic users as seldom as possible, but sometimes when performing a greater working it was necessary. More over it was often the case that if a child was a magical match, so too were their parents. There were some exceptions and some cases where wizards married less strong magical matches in the old days, to ensure the health of their children's offspring. However considering the animosity she felt towards Lucius Malfoy and the feud between the Malfoy and the Weasley's, all their children and Hermione would have to be taught how not to siphon from one another as soon as possible. In addition to which she would have to discuss the matter with the unknown's child's father and with whomever else her magic was compatible. Schedules would have to be worked out between herself and her darker counterparts, so the balance in their power could be maintained. The use of too much dark or light magic could corrupt the core and although those that were strongly aligned in one direction or another seldom became friends, in the far distant past they had been able to make a truce at least. Lily had very little hope of that happening between these children and the families that were involved.

"Oh dear." Lily stated and dropped the magical connection. "Unfortunately I'm afraid that the following children will have to come with me and we will have to fire call your parents." She said and recited off the names, Malfoy and Nott looked shocked, but obeyed her when she threatened to take points if they didn't come with her and Luna seemed to handle it best of all. Lily drew power and nodded, seeing the magic leave the cores of the younger wizards and come to her, she only took a small amount, enough to test her theory only. She would have to teach magical shielding and sharing to these children and possibly their parents first, before moving onto other families. They would however have to share their power, or else they would be able to accomplish very little. They could accomplish far more by willingly sharing in rites and rituals and everyday life, rather than forcefully drawing power.

"What's this about Professor Potter?" Luna asked and smiled dreamily, she was no doubt the enchanter for Harry's coven, or what might become Harry's coven. Enchanters always had their head in the clouds and sometimes had to be reminded to eat, if they became enraptured by their workings, or dreams. Lily herself had an infinity for magics that had typically been ascribed to enchanters and those that had been typical of warlocks.

"You lot are magically compatible, which means I will have to speak with your parents immediately and see about training you into at least being able to maintain a somewhat decent control over your magics. If this is what most of the magical population is like, its no wonder that magical strength is slowly declining as it has been for the last few hundred years. The way you are sharing power is unhealthy."

"How do you know and what's this about power sharing?" Draco asked and Lily sighed.

"Typically a coven has a balance between what was later classified as light magic and dark magic, however everyone but Luna seems to either be afraid of becoming dark or dismissive of lighter magics, to the point where their magic is unbalanced. Unbalanced magic leads to all kinds of problems, including magical accidents and maladies of the mind in extreme cases. If magic is unbalanced it is harder to get well after becoming sick, or recover from magical strain. I've been pouring power into Severus and Harry, as they are part of our coven I expect, but that will only do so much good, if I take what they need by force."

"So you need us to give Harry some of our magic, how do we do that?" The girl with the far off look in her eyes spoke and Lily smiled.

"Harry and Severus will be fine, but the next time someone over exerts themselves, we need to be prepared and assist their working, otherwise it will take them much longer to recover."

"Why should I care about Potter?" Malfoy demanded and Lily sighed.

"Because if you and Nott only power share, the balance will be disturbed, you are supposed to be the sorcerers for this coven, as the others are supposed to be the warlocks, healers and enchanters. If you ever wish to be able to do more than dark spells and potions, you will have to share your magic with the others, as they will have to with you."

"How do you know..."

"Because its part of your magic, its not a good thing, or a bad thing it simply is. You are a dark wizard, just as I'm a grey wizard and she's a light wizard, you can't help your magical core, however by power sharing you maintain the balance better and can do more powerful spells. You've gotten as far as you have, by forcefully taking power from each other and that has left your cores in a twisted tangle. Mine was just as bad when I first started maintaining my core, it took the first year to straighten everything out, but I was working on my own and I had to take power in such a way that wouldn't damage those who I shared my magic with."

"Magic isn't shared!" Draco Malfoy protested. "Your power is your own."

"That's where you are wrong boy, had you studied the ancient knowledge and seen what books I have, you would have discovered this truth for yourself. Don't think that simply because you are Pureblood that you know everything there is to know about magic. You are so far from what the ancients knew of magic and think yourself superior because you grew up in a culture that had been established through conquest and not through true power."

"What would you know of it, you're a mudblood!" Draco Malfoy said and Lily took his power all of it at once and he sagged to the ground, pale and shaking.

"How else did I take your magic?" Lily demanded and Draco stared at her terrified. "We share a connection regardless of what you may think of me, you don't have to like it, you just have to accept it."

"What did you do to me?"

"I took your magic." Lily stated. "I could just as easily take the magic of the rest of you, you need to learn how to protect yourselves from this and you need to learn how to channel power. I didn't realize how bad it has gotten." Lily stated. "May I take magic from the rest of you and redistribute it, without learning how to control your power, you will keep taking magic from each other, until one of you breaks from the strain of it, but if you do not desire to learn how to maintain a balance of power that is your affair."

"Balance of power?" Hermione asked and Lily saw her start to pull on some of the dark magic and smiled.

"Indeed to everything there is a balance, the power shifts between you, if you truly wish to have only your magic it will be hard to determine how to separate it. Once I separate it, I can redistribute it between you, but I fear that some things you were previously able to do, you won't be able to anymore."

"Like what?"

"It depends upon your magical affinity, however such magical binding can lead to mental instability, shortened lifespan and decreased magical ability."

"What do you do then?" Nott demanded and Lily smiled, showing them her core, it swirled with different colors of gold, but mainly it was the warm gold of her own power.

"You see it as gold, where others with different affinities would see it as the color of their own magical affinity to me." Lily stated, before giving back the power she had taken from Draco. "I have been maintaining my own magic and taking and giving in order to keep myself and my magical matches healthy since I learned of the nature of my power." Lily stated and smiled. "The power you claim as your own Draco is in fact borrowed from many different people, in addition to your own magic, I would not have been able to take it as easily as I could if that was not the case." Lily stated, before rounding up the power she felt attuned to Draco's magical core and taking and giving until he had only his magic, she then bound it to him, so that it wouldn't escape and he couldn't draw on the magic of others in his coven. She then showed him his magical core. "It will not function as you expect like this, it seems that naturally you have an affinity for little besides potions and levitating magics." Lily stated and then did the same for each of the others. "Now see how your core is one color, there are several other spells that inform me of what you personally gifted at and I used that information to properly separate out the magic, as well as feeding magic to Harry and Severus."

"You are feeding magic? How are you doing that? What do you mean by feeding magic?" Hermione asked.

"Do a spell." Lily stated. "I would suggest a simple transfiguration." Lily added and Hermione obeyed, everyone stared as a small amount of magic flowed from her into the item she was casting her spell on and her quill changed into a pen. "Very good, you are gifted in transforming magics and transmutation. No one would be able to get anywhere without your power, quite literally."

"And me?" Luna asked and Lily smiled.

"You dear girl are a seer and what was once known as a scribe. My own power developed towards offensive and scribe related spells, partly do to being in an environment I instinctually found to be hostile for so long."

"Developed?" Ron asked and Lily nodded.

"If you hold onto magic long enough, it becomes part of your core, regardless of what you originally had an affinity for." Lily stated. "I would suggest mixing your power, fewer cauldrons will blow up that way and fewer transfiguration disasters will happen."

""What about me?" Neville asked and Lily frowned.

"You were using all your power to attempt to heal someone else, I have taken over supplying them with power."

"My parents?"

"I would assume so, but I cannot be sure, without first looking at their magical cores." Lily stated. "I'm sorry to hear about what happened, their minds might in fact be broken, so you shouldn't expect that I will be able to heal them. There is only so much magical sharing to do, but if we have an aligned core, I will attempt to assist them."

"Mum would be happy to help, if your cores are aligned or whatever." Ron said and Lily smiled.

"Unfortunately we would need to reform the coven and I might only be able to heal one of Neville's parents, if I could heal either of them. I know only what information I could find on the subject and it was very hard to discover the three books I could find."

"What books, where were they?" Pansy Parkinson demanded and Lily sighed.

"You need to come up with a filing system beyond sticking your books wherever there is a free space, I read about half your library and I kept finding potions books next to transfiguration texts and many other things besides. At least the library at Hogwarts has some order to it, its clear that I'll need to write a further book on magical core alignments, once I finish the more basic texts, but even my knowledge is woefully inept." Lily stated.

"I'd like to share with Neville, Ron and Harry." Hermione said. "You can give them some of my magic."

"You and Nev and can have some of mine." Ron said and Lily smiled at the children.

"I don't mind sharing with Hermione, or Ron or Harry." Neville stated and Lily opened the connection between them.

"Now I want you to think of what you want to do with your power, Neville has an affinity for healing and defensive magics, Ron has an affinity for defensive and tactical magics. Hermione has an affinity for scribe, transfiguration and transmutation magic."

"I would like to share my magic with the others as well, they could do with a bit of sight to guide their way, and I am our shaman am I not?"

"Indeed you are, did you see this?"

"Nothing so clear, I felt the nargles becoming agitated and I knew something important was to pass, but I did not know what. You said that I was most like the enchanters of old and they were typically shamans I remember that much from my lessons, although I thought the power sharing rituals our ancestors enjoyed were lost among the many other traditions which had been lost to the mists of time."

"Very few could complete a full circle, as they lacked the unity needed to maintain an open magical exchange. Magic senses hostility and power cannot be shared when emotions are in flux or a wizard denies another access to their magic, through the manipulation of their core." Lily stated.

"Manipulation?" Hermione asked and Lily nodded.

"A wizard's core is a fluid thing, see how my magics mix and intermingle? It is not meant to be stagnant and power is meant to flow between wizards."

"I still don't understand why Granger is part of this."

"She's related to the Mungo family though distantly and something in your magic calls to hers as much as you may dislike one another. Sometimes those with an affinity will feel powerful emotions towards one another. Those can be a strong attachment friendship or even love, or they can also be loathing. I no doubt will feel something similar when meeting your parents, we never got on and I believe a similar sentiment was transferred to you. Luckily I have enough dark power now on my own to prevent unbalance in whatever part of the coven wishes to remain together." Lily stated and smiled at the children. "I was wondering if I might use your floo powder McGonagall?"

"Of course dear, you know where my quarters are, do you not?"

"I do." Lily replied and took the children to McGonagall's office. As to not be accused of playing favorites she asked Draco for the floo address of his mother first and smiled when she saw the witch in question.

"Mrs. Potter what are you doing in my fireplace?" Mrs. Malfoy demanded.

"There is a somewhat urgent matter that requires your attention, if something involved my son, I would wish to be informed and I'm extending you that curtsy as a fellow parent if nothing else." Lily stated and Mrs. Malfoy nodded.

"Has he been hurt?"

"Not as such, thought there is some sensitive information that it would be better to tell you in private before it leaks to the papers." Lily stated and smiled at Mrs. Malfoy.

"Indeed I shall get Lucius and come at once, thank you Mrs. Potter for informing us." Mrs. Malfoy said and Lily nodded, disconnecting the floo.

"That was almost civil." Hermione stated. "I didn't know they had that in them."

"People are willing to do many things for their children, that they would not do normally Mrs. Granger and I would thank you to not insult Mr. Malfoy's parents." Lily said stiffly and Hermione blushed. Lily fire called Mrs. Weasley next and smiled at her. "Hello Mrs. Weasley, could you come to Hogwarts, something happened that would be better discussed in the castle."

"Of course, I'll get Arthur and we'll go immediately, is Ron alright?"

"He is fine Mrs. Weasley, but this is something better discussed in private. Come to McGonagall's office bring Mr. Weasley and please be civil."

"I do not see why a matter between our children would require civility."

"Because there are other children and other families involved, we should not be fighting in front of our children." Lily stated and Mrs. Weasley nodded.

"I'll come and I'll bring Arthur." The other conversations she had with the other children's parents continued in much the same manner, until all had agreed to meet.

"Come along children and lets meet your caregivers and parents. I will inform yours Hermione of what is happening by telephone after we are done meeting, although I doubt they will fully understand. My parents were proud of me but they never truly understood me."

"Didn't someone once say that parents seldom understand their children truly?" Hermione said and Lily nodded.

"Indeed, now come lets meet your families." Lily stated and cast a shield charm over the children as she reached the apparition point, not to her surprise wands had already been drawn.

"What is the meaning of this!" Mr. Malfoy demanded when he saw Lily and the other children. "Why did you take me out of work in order to stand waiting with this...with this..."

"I believe the word you are looking for is blood traitor, you might as well say it Mr. Malfoy." Mr. Weasley said and glared back at Mr. Malfoy. "Just because I have no desire to stand naked under the light of the full moon and do rituals that don't do one ounce of good, doesn't mean I'm betraying my family or my magic." Mr. Weasley stated. "Now what is this about?"

"This." Lily stated and showed them her magic and the children's as well as her own. They stared at her, their faces running from puzzlement to anger, to displeasure.

"What are we looking at?"

"Our children's magic and our own."

"Impossible such spells were lost centuries ago!" Mr. Malfoy said and Lily smiled at him, a predatory smile.

"Mr. Malfoy I had five years to do nothing but read in a library of a pureblood witch whom you held in high regard, if you think that I as the brightest person in my year could not manage to find a few things while I was reading, you are sorely mistaken. As for you Mr. Weasley, the ancient rights do work, not as well as they used to when people knew how to do them properly, but they work all the same. By the time I had figured out what had gone wrong with my coven's magic, three people had died and two were near death themselves. Forgive me for not wanting the same for my child!"

"What about Draco, why is his core like that and the other children's brighter and more fluid?" Mrs. Malfoy demanded.

"Because they are children and young Mr. Malfoy desired to keep his power separate from the other children's, he won't be able to do much magic and will slowly sicken if he continues to decide to horde his power and not let it flow between them. That's what happened to us, that and the war."

"What do you mean?" Mr. Nott demanded drawing his wand and Lily responded in kind.

"Simply that we studied certain magic to the exclusion of other power." Lily stated and smiled as Severus and Harry walked to the apparition point. "You should be resting."

"Madam Pomphrey gave me and Harry a clean bill of health." Severus stated. "I heard that you had decided to call the parents of those children in Harry's coven, if I am to understand what was said correctly."

"Indeed you understood correctly." Lily said and smiled at him. "Thank you for bringing Harry."

"What's going on Mum?"

"Harry this is your coven, for some reason that I don't even understand, you are supposed to share power and if you don't bad things happen."

"What bad things, what could be worse than what my life is already?" Harry demanded and Lily sighed.

"You could loose someone you love, to death or madness, you could loose control of your power and kill yourself. Many things can happen to a wizard with unsettled bonds, it's a wonder that the population survived as long as it did without grounding."

"Grounding?" Harry asked and Lily nodded, drawing magic from the adults around her.

"Magic does this to some extent, but no one can be entirely just one thing." Lily stated, sending the power back, filtering it through her magic and smiling at the looks of awe on the faces of the adults and the children who were looking between her and her parents. "If the Malfoy and Mr. Nott wish to abstain from our coven, we would still be able to be fairly balanced, but they would become unbalanced."

"Did you do something to my wife?" Mr. Nott demanded and Lily shook her head.

"No, I am uncertain of how she died, but she was already dead by the time I learned to access the magical connection that runs between us."

"Could you help my son and daughter in law?"

"I don't know for certain, for now I am simply feeding them magic, there are certain rituals that could be tried however. I read about some amazing healings being practiced when covens were involved." Lily stated. "However I can't make any promises and the ritual requires the full participation of the coven and I doubt we have that at this time." Lily stated.

"What is your role then, in the coven?" Mr. Weasley asked and Lily smiled at him.

"I've taken on more roles than were originally intended, because our coven has fractured." Lily stated. "No one else knew how to make the magic flow correctly, or send magic to those in the coven that needed it when they did. No one else knew how to assist in healing when someone was hurt, or to ensure the magical flow between individuals was stable."

"So you essentially do the work of ten people?" Mrs. Longbottom asked and Lily nodded.

"Indeed, it doesn't put a strain on my magic because I draw from others as needed, but I constantly have to be vigilant and make sure that the balance of power is maintained."

"And if we desire not to be in your coven, or to not give our magic to you and entrust you with our power?" Lucius Malfoy demanded.

"That is your affair, though I would suggest finding someone that you are willing to transfer power between, otherwise you might fall ill or suffer from magical maladies more easily. In addition to which, your power levels sharing between three wizards would be nowhere near as great, as if we all shared power amongst us. We don't have to be friends in order to share power, the four founders of Hogwarts were an example of how you don't have to like a person in order to share power with them. However there have been those that filter power through their magical cores and then distribute the power between those that do not wish to share with one or more members of their coven, but do not wish for their magic to become stagnant. As it is I'm the only one controlling the power flow, which puts consider strain on my reserves of energy. I would much prefer it if you would assist me in maintaining a healthy bond, but ultimately what you wish to do with your magic is your choice." Lily stated.

"I'll share with you Lily." Severus said and smiled at her, she returned the smile and nodded.

"Thank you Severus, I can assume that you and Mr. Weasley will wish to share your power, as will Mr. Malfoy and Mrs. Malfoy."

"Can I share with you as well?" Mr. Nott asked. "I do not wish to impose myself upon Mr. Malfoy." He added and Lily nodded.

"Though I will prevent you from attempting to damage us through the connection, all you would actually manage would be to cause your own demise. A magical core connection does not respond well to malicious intent."

"What do you mean?"

"Simply that the magic wishes to be shared, we could still of course curse each other, until we are blue in the face, but we couldn't actually harm one another, the bond won't allow for more than the sort of curses school children use." Lily said and pulled out her wand. "Caecus Maximus." Lily intoned firing the curse at Severus and watching as it harmlessly disappointed. "There you see, I can't harm him, nor could I truly harm any of you." Lily stated.

"Can you harm Draco?" Mr. Malfoy asked and Lily shook her head.

"His magic and yours are entertained, I cannot harm your son, any more than you would be able to harm mine." Lily stated and Lucius Malfoy frowned.

"So we can't curse each other and would hurt our magic if we don't agree to join with you? This sounds entirely too familiar to me and you are not offering anything in return for my binding myself to you."

"You are already bound to me, as I am to you, we can block that connection but we cannot sever it Mr. Malfoy." Lily stated. "You still wish to share with Mrs. Malfoy and your son?" Lily asked and Mr. Malfoy nodded, Lily did as he wanted and bound their magic to them, taking back all power that wasn't theirs to control. "I doubt you will be able to apparated or do much of what you are accustomed to doing, but if this is the way you want things, far be it from me to get in the way of your wishes. I am not the Dark Lord Mr. Malfoy, I do not appreciate being compared to him, all I truly wish is to help maintain our magics and I would have taught you to control what power you received and how, as I will teach Mr. Nott." Lily stated and sighed. "Far be it from me to force someone to do what they don't wish to do." She added and Mr. Malfoy frowned, before pulling out his wand. "I suggest you go back through the Hogshead floo gate, otherwise you will splinch yourself, as Mr. Lovegood is the one who is good at transmutation magics and you can't force your magic to be something other than what it is at its core. I guided my magic so I could become a grey witch and Severus did much the same, but that takes years of study, years you don't have. Enjoy the walk, you will be doing a lot of walking from now on." Lily stated and Draco looked between his parents and Lily.

"What have you done to our magic?"

"Bound it to the three of you as you asked, your magic is skilled towards glamour's, the mental arts and offensive magics, however I doubt you will be able to do many every day spells."

"How did this happen?" Lucius demanded. "Why can't we do every day spells?"

"Because you didn't train your magic to do them, they are something you consider to be an after thought and not a focus, unlike Mrs. Weasley who's very skilled with the sort of magics necessary to run a household, in addition to healing magic. I only found out about magical cores eleven years ago and I didn't think it right to influence your magic."

"Then what do you consider this to be?"

"I consider it to be doing what you want, if you wish to remain with us and become an equal part of this coven, you are more than welcome to do so. If however you wish to leave like arrant children, only to come back when you decide that you can't function with only the magic of your family, you can sod off." Lily stated. "I'm not going to be working with you every few days when you have a fit of peak and decide that you function better on your own. We need to decide how the power is split between us and we need to come up with a schedule."

"A schedule?" Mr. Malfoy demanded and Lily nodded.

"Indeed I refuse to allow what happened to Luna's Mother happen again, I was attempting to break my curse when Luna's mother decided to create a spell, we were both drawing very heavily on the magic that was shared between us, I realized what was happening and tried to shove power towards her dropping my spell, but I hadn't fully learned how to control the transfer of power and I had no idea at that time how to do magical shielding through shared cores." Lily stated. "I do not know if it was ultimately the result of the spell failing, the stretching of our magical energies, or the distraction of having that power thrust into her suddenly that ultimately lead to her death, but the result was that she died and I'll never be certain if I wasn't in some way responsible."

"You weren't responsible, it was a flaw in her calculations, she kept records and I found her spell work and took it to another spell maker to discover what went wrong, it was not your fault." Mr. Lovegood stated and Hermione nodded.

"Powerful workings can be done, with the willing participation of those that share magical cores. Severus and I have classes to teach and the rest of you have jobs to do, so I would suggest that we leave any taxing workings until Saturday and come up with a rotating schedule. I would also like all of us to meet up on Sunday to work on strengthening exercises that is if everyone agrees to form a coven with equal power sharing?" Lily asked and the others all nodded. "And you boys?"

"We'll share with the others." Draco said glaring at Harry. "I can't promise I'll like them though."

"You don't have to like one another, though it would go more smoothly if you did. Much like Arthur and Lucius you and Ron are the lightest and the darkest magic users in your coven."

"Is it always like this in families?" Ron asked.

"Usually at least one child, will form a coven with another child that was in their parent's coven. However some belong to other covens, it depends more on the balance of a wizard's power and who they are as a person. Wizards are given to certain traits, but that doesn't mean that's all they are, if that makes any sense. As to why magic functions in this manner, I haven't the foggiest no book I have come across mentions why it is. Only that it is. They refer to this connection in many ways, soul bonding, spirit sharing, essence giving, but it all amounts to the same thing. I feel that the natural spirits in the world influence us as much as we influence them and the world does everything it can to maintain the balance. We are all powerful wizards and witches in our own right and that strength and power was recognized in us and some force determined that our magic would align. As to why this happens, some call this force god, or the spirit of nature, evolution, or even beings from another planet, I don't know where it comes from truly but I believe that we are supposed to be guardians of this earth, as the ancient wizards believed." Lily stated and everyone stared at her in shock.

"So you believe in the old ways? Truly, its not some sort of PR stunt?" Mr. Nott demanded and Lily nodded.

"Not that I would expect any of you to, you are free to believe what you wish, however we will be using ritual methods in order to maintain balance in our core. I suggest we find a quiet spot and I'll guide you through a meditation." Lily stated. "I would suggest using the come and go room." She added.

"Wherever you wish to go is fine with me." Mr. Lovegood said and Lily nodded, she lead them back to the castle and to the room of requirement. She smiled as she smelt the incense and saw the pillows, she sat down cross-legged on one of the star points. "The children should sit in the middle at first, make yourselves comfortable, but not so comfortable as to go to sleep." Lily instructed and the children obeyed her, she smiled guiding them to each spot and then doing the same with the adults.

"Now I want you to take deep breaths in and out, feel your body and think of spreading your power from your feet to the top of your head. Starting with your feet, I want you to imagine a warm soothing light slowly spreading upwards through your body. In time you will be able to manifest this light, but don't expect to right away." Lily instructed and continued to instruct them until she felt the bond change slightly, it was more attentive and relaxed at the same time, the power waiting to be used. Lily took a deep breath in and out before she began to speak again. "We will start with Mrs. Weasley, as Earth she is our primary anchor. I want you to channel your power towards her and Ron and Mrs. Weasley and Ron I want you to take that power and send it back out. As we are doing this for the first time, I will guide the channeling, but I believe that you will be able to do this yourselves in time." Lily stated and sent the power towards Mrs. Weasley and Ron, who sent it back out into the circle, she did this for a while, before she noticed how Mrs. Weasley was starting to draw the power in and send it back out on her own, though Ron still relied upon her help. "We will now continue to the point between air and earth, Mr. Weasley and young Mr. Nott, I want you to try to send the power out, while the others and I send it to you." Lily stated and continued to work with the power, until she felt that Mr. Weasley gained some grasp of the technique.

"Now we will move onto air and Mr. Lovegood and Luna, do as you have been doing." Lily said and smiled when she realized she hardly had to assist the power sharing at all this time, the others were doing it naturally and the power was being spread evenly. "Now on to the space between air and fire and Mrs. Malfoy and young Mr. Malfoy." Lily said and smiled as she felt the core start to thrum. "Do not be alarmed, the first half of this power sharing warms it up, the second half cools it down so to speak and now it is time to transition to fire. Mr. Malfoy you and Neville will channel this element." Lily stated and felt the magic crackle full of energy, she then moved onto fire and water, guiding Hermione through the ritualistic sharing, before moving onto Snape, it made sense to have him represent water his nature sometimes forceful and other times soothing just seemed to align with the element for Lily. She then finally moved onto water and earth and used those elements to center her magic and Harry's.

When they were finished Lily felt energized and whole for the first time in her life, she couldn't escape the feeling that this was how it was supposed to be. "I aligned you in some regard according to your natures and some regard to what you needed. You can of course take another point up on the compass, but the energy that was sent to you carried the image of your element with it. If you feel more attuned with another element that too is fine, simply inform me and I will adjust this ritual accordingly."

"I don't feel like fire, but my magic feels stronger than usual."

"The use of the elements was to evoke a clear picture to draw on, in everyone's minds. However what we did wouldn't truly be considered a ritual."

"Do you wish to practice sky clad rituals?" Lucius asked and Lily shrugged.

"I wouldn't be apposed, but I feel that we should first get more accustomed to power sharing and do less potent rituals at first. I don't think Harry is quite ready to take part in a sky clad ritual, mostly those were done after seventeen do to the amount of power that they required." Lily said and Lucius nodded. "I would not be averse to it, but first I want to perform a healing ritual and attempt to help Neville's parents. That way if we can return them to themselves, we can have more people to take part in the ritual."

"What ritual would you want us to do?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"A fertility rite and the blessing of a pregnancy, we have long wanted a second child and although there is nothing magically wrong with either of us, we cannot conceive. We have tried every potion on the market and still have been unable to have another child. Draco's birth was difficult but not so difficult that we were told not to attempt to have another child, no one knows why we have been unable to."

"Have you thought of using muggle methods?" Hermione asked and everyone stared at her in shock. "There was a girl born in Australia using test tubes and cutting edge science, she was grown in a lab and then put into her mother's stomach. My Dad told me about it when I asked too many questions about where babies came from, its becoming more common now for people who can't conceive easily."

"I would rather attempt magical means and fairly soon, we only have about ten more years to attempt to have children." Lucius stated and Lily frowned.

"I couldn't promise that the ritual would work, I was surprised at how well this ritual worked."

"We cannot help but hope, but we know better than to expect the ritual to work by now." Mr. Malfoy said and Lily nodded.

"As long as you don't hold us responsible if it fails." Lily said and smiled at Neville's Gran who had been watching them.

"You are going to try to help Frank and Alice first though?"

"Yes though I believe we should wait until winter break, that will allow us the time we need to recover. Fertility rituals are best preformed in spring at any rate."

"I have heard much the same, but why wait, we should be able to do the ritual on Friday afternoon and recover by Sunday." Severus said and Lily shook her head.

"We need time to strengthen our bond and we may need to draw slightly upon the children's magic as well. We need to prepare and train for this, to research where it might go wrong and how to perform the ritual correctly."

"Once a know it all, always a know it all." Narcissia smirked. "Don't expect Miss Granger to mellow with age."

"At least I had something between my ears as a child, you were always simpering over some stupid boy or other."

"We cannot all have your luck when it comes to men. I am fortunate in that our parents arranged a marriage, otherwise Lucius might never have noticed me."

"I have no desire to be stared at and fought over, I was content to simply sit by the lake with Severus and study together, or later to read in the library. If James hadn't been so persistent that he annoyed me into agreeing to go out with him, I don't think we ever would have dated. I was surprised when that first date actually was fun and agreed to a second, with the stipulation that our studies would always come first. There is nothing wrong with being intelligent and fond of reading, if I wasn't we wouldn't be here would we."

"Indeed not, would you like to come to the manor this weekend, Severus you can come as well if you like."

"I would enjoy that, we have not talked in a while. I have things of my own that I could research." Severus stated.

"I would like to see your library, but I wouldn't be able to read very much in a day."

"Indeed not, you can come any weekend you wish." Mr. Malfoy said. "Simply floo us ahead of time, though I must admit that there isn't much of a filing system. Several attempts have been made over the centuries, but our library contains several thousand books and it's near impossible to catalog everything."

"I don't mind sorting through books and I know how to handle most books, even those that have security spells placed upon them. Thank you for allowing me access to your library."

"Of course." Mr. Malfoy said and Lily smiled at him, she didn't trust Lucius Malfoy as far as she could throw him, but she'd be nice in order to get her hands on his books. "Just could you tell me if you find anything worth reading."

"Of course, I believe knowledge is meant to be shared." Lily said and smiled. "Though I do believe that it is time for dinner in the Great Hall, we could go to Hogsmeade for dinner but first we would need permission from the Headmistress to take our sons and daughter from school."

"A better idea would be simply to ask the House elves to spare some of the food. I don't want to dine with the students, it might unsettle them slightly to have us at the table. Usually once you drop the children off at the train station you don't see them for the rest of the year and I don't want to disrupt them." Mrs. Weasley said

"Everyone would love to see you Mum, we miss you." Ron said and Mrs. Weasley shield's

"Thank you dear, but it would be better if we ate somewhere more private, the papers will no doubt report about you, but for now the rest of the family is safe from scrutiny a situation which might not last, once all this becomes common knowledge." Mrs. Weasley said and Lily sighed.

"I wish that for once the newspapers would tell the truth, it seems that they have been printing nothing but drivel for decades." Lily said and was surprised that she got everyone, including Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy to laugh.

"Indeed, but at least its equal opportunity drivel, if things are to be untrue, let them not be biased." Mr. Malfoy stated and Mr. Lovegood smiled.

"That's why I came up with the Quibbler, to poke fun at the news, though I also enjoy writing articles about magical creature research and new potion research, topics that I find lacking in the Daily Profit."

"It actually reminds me of the tabloids in the muggle world, made up gossip about famous people and little of substance. It truly surprises me that some view it as a reliable news source."

"For the most part I read Wizengamot notes to get my news, but you wouldn't believe the boring things you hear them talk about in there. There have been a good twenty attempts to revise laws on cauldron bottoms and no doubt there will be a good twenty more. All people need to do is stick with a reputable dealer, but people go looking for a deal on used cauldrons and wind up seriously injuring themselves or others. I always inspect the student's cauldrons and replace the ones not up to snuff out of my own paycheck, but I shouldn't have to do so. They could just as easily find a good cauldron at Jamble and Breksway's and be done with it." Severus sighed pinching the bridge of his nose. "The ministry seems to not know its ass from its head and people are entirely too busy sticking their heads up other's Asses in order to get anything done."

This time that comment got Mr. Malfoy laughing so hard that he nearly doubled over. "I missed you old friend, we should meet together more often."

"You know how busy I am once school is in session." Severus protested.

"That I do and I may be busy in the upcoming months as well." Mr. Malfoy said.

"How so?"

"You may have killed the Dark Lord, but don't believe that it means that this is over by any means. If we are to work as a coven, you must understand that my views aren't your own."

"I think you would be surprised on that score, however I don't see how killing people and maiming others will get us what is needed." Lily stated. "You need only look around you to see how the current laws regarding black magic are effecting the environment but that does not mean that we need to fight another war."

"And then what would you suggest, you can yell at people until you are blue in the face, but that doesn't mean that they will listen."

"Perhaps by showing them how we improve ourselves and demonstrating the old ways, people will discover that they aren't as bad as they think. Killing will only lead to more killing and bloodshed on both sides. Sooner rather than later our coven will be dissolved, do to us fighting among ourselves rather than assisting each other to grow stronger in magic together. Being in a coven was never easy, so many viewpoints always lead to conflict, but if the ancient wizards and witches managed it I don't see why we can't. People fear the old ways not because they are something to be feared, but because they don't understand them, don't understand the nature of magic. They don't understand that naturally there are always those wizards who have more of an affinity for dark magic over light. They seek to control the rituals and rites so that they can insure the safety of the population, but by not allowing those rites to be practiced, that magic to heal the earth, they endanger us all the more. Until we come to this point, where our planet is close to hitting a tipping point that not even magic can make it recover from. If we don't band together to fix what is wrong with the earth and soon, we may very well fight ourselves to extinction."

Everyone stared at her in silence. "I have my own grudges and my own painful memories, but continuing to fight one another isn't the answer, we can have peace and we will eventually be able to practice the rituals and rites again. I have sworn my own vows to not harm another unless I believe that they seek to harm me, I have sworn this upon my magic, as well as making vows to maintain the balance to the best of my ability and because of these vows, because of how the mother approves of me, I have five times the power of what is considered to be a normal witch. Living in harmony with the balance has brought me more peace, than the god I was raised with ever did. I can feel it when I release my power into the world, I can feel how my magical energy in some way affects the planet and how that helps to maintain the balance. When I sacrifice to assist the earth in healing, I too feel that power surge through me and out of me."

"How could you do rituals when you were a cat?" Mr. Malfoy demanded.

"There need be no spoken vow, there need only be open and honest feeling, you must truly mean what you offer of yourself to the balance, otherwise instead of healing you and giving you your rightful power, you will become blighted instead. Much of magic is about intention, I intended to share with all of you, the gifts I had been given myself and when I pull or give power that intention is heard and the power comes. If I intended to harm you, the power would not come to me, as it would not allow for me to harm members of my coven, even indirectly. You can catch mice and recite ritual words in your mind, before killing them, those small sacrifices had to do, until I was once again human."

"You sacrifice animals?" Mr. Weasley demanded and Lily nodded.

"To purify the earth, to allow more animals to be born in their place. A sacrifice allows for the earth to heal, which makes the grass trees and flowers grow richer and healthier in the area of the sacrifice. I would never do human sacrifice beyond myself as the only rituals that call for it require a lot of power and don't work as well as other rituals that accomplish the same thing. Though life exchanging rituals are not something that I believe myself to be beyond doing and James felt the same."

"What do you mean?" Harry asked.

"James knew that we could not escape, babies cannot apparated and so he gave his life to save yours and my own. His sacrifice for me wasn't in fact necessary but it saved you, even though you received that scar."

"Dad died for me?" Harry demanded.

"Yes and his death was enough to save you, thank the stars, I too would have willingly died for you Harry, but Voldemort's had other plans." Lily stated.

"How did that work?"

"A ritual I found in the Potter Library, allowing parents to sacrifice themselves for their children. We knew what would happen to Harry, if we didn't afford him protection and we did what we had to protect our son." Lily stated and everyone stared at her. "Not a day goes by that I don't miss James, but I am so thankful to him, for what he did for our son and how he tried to protect us both."

"He died for you, for both of you and that's why Harry survived and the Dark Lord..."

"The Dark Lord was turned into a wraith, yes and that was why I was able to defeat him. He upset the balance and drove himself to madness with arcane dark rituals, which harm the very soul. He is not the man you wish to immolate Mr. Malfoy. It is one thing to be a dark wizard, the world needs dark wizards and dark magic, just as much as it needs light wizards and light magic. It is another thing entirely to upset the balance at every turn, to turn others to madness and to kill without remorse." Lily stated and frowned, searching with her magic and pulling out the geas that was on Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy, they doubled over in pain as she ripped it away from them, and banished the dark magic from her. She then turned to Severus and frowned, he had two competing geas himself, she could not take away one, without affecting the other. "Don't think Dumbledore was a saint either, he made others believe that he was beyond reproach. I long ago discovered the geas he laid upon me and destroyed it, but yours still linger. Do you wish to be free of both geas placed upon you Severus?" Lily asked Severus. "You see how me taking the geas away from the Malfoy has affected them."

"What did you do to my parents?" Draco demanded his fists tightened into small balls.

"I freed them Draco, now their minds are their own again. Geas leach off of a wizard, the more the wizard or witch holds them in regard the more the geas makes them regard the witch or wizard, until they worship them much like the gods of old. Some gods were in fact wizards I believe." Lily stated and sent healing mind magic to the Malfoy. "When that geas is taken away, it is both physically and mentally painful, but your parents will respect those they do, because it is earned, not because they are forced to do so. Geas magic is repulsive and the weapon of those that wish to use others, while thinking nothing of the balance or those that they are using. Those that consider other wizards to be disposable are beyond contempt and I don't doubt that Dumbledore has used his position at the school to best advantage. Why else would students that loath him also hold him in such high regard?" Lily demanded, before casting a sleeping spell on both Malfoy, putting them into a deep healing sleep. "The longer a geas is in place, the more it leaches magic off of its host and the more the magic user comes to worship their oppressor." Lily sighed. "Do I have your permission to remove the geas that are on you? I should have done so with the Malfoy, but even I sometimes forget myself, I began to suspect the work of a geas while talking with them and once I discovered it I acted."

"I for one want this gone from me." Mr. Nott stated. "I wish to be able to make up my own mind on such things, as I thought I had been doing."

"Of course." Lily stated. "Might I borrow your magic, while you rest, it will make the healing go quicker.

"Of course and if there is anything on my son, you have my permission to remove it as well." Mr. Nott looked furious. "I took him before the Dark Lord as a baby, if that...If he did something to my son..."

"I will make sure that Theodore is well, though you will still be dark wizards, you will be able to make your own choices, rather than being ruled by the geas." Lily stated and Mr. Nott nodded, she took away his power then and removed the geas from him as well, putting him instantly into a healing sleep. "They should be fine by morning, do you wish me to check you for a geas Mr. Nott?" Lily asked and Theodore squared his shoulders before nodding.

"Yes, Mrs. Potter, that would be appreciated." Theodore said and held still his lip quivering slightly, which didn't surprise Lily, Theodore was only a child after all. She frowned when she saw the two geas he had, Dumbledore hadn't thought to look for other geas when he had placed his own. Then again she doubted any wizard that would use such a method of gaining power, cared over much for anyone other than himself or herself.

"You have two geas upon you, would you like me to remove them both?" Lily asked and Theodore nodded.

"Take my power as well, if you are to free all of us, it will be a large working won't it and I'll be asleep, so I won't feel being without it."

"Thank you Theodore but as a young wizard, you need what power you have in order to maintain and assist your magical core and body in growing." She took both geas and cast a sleeping spell upon Theodore. "Who's next?" One by one they allowed her to take the geas from her, Draco too had the competing geas placed upon him, it was sickening to Lily how someone could do that to a child. She finally finished and sat down on the cushioned floor roughly, feeling the effects of the power drain it had taken to take the geas from those that had been affected. Pillows moved up from the floor and blankets dropped from the ceiling, as Lily found a pillow and a blanket, which had appeared next to Harry and covered her with the blanket, before falling into an exhausted sleep.

AN

It took a really long time to decide what I wanted to do with this fic. I deleted several drafts of this chapter and personal problems got in the way of my writing for a while. Sorry for the wait and thank you for reading this fic and for the reviews.